Day 3

Annabella twisted and turned and twisted and turned some more, but still could not see who was speaking to her with such a soothing and melodic voice. In fact, she couldn’t see any other ornaments on the tree at all and thought “How strange! I saw so many ornaments when I saw the tree from far away earlier. Where did they all go?” Of course, she couldn’t really twist upwards to see if there were other ornaments above her on the tree. “Maybe that’s where they are,” she thought.
“Annabella,” she said in little more than a whimper now.
“What’d she say?” asked a low, growly voice.
“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know!” repeated a high-pitched, impatient voice.
“Well, someone oughta tell her to SPEAK UP if she’s got anything worthwhile to say!” said the low, growly voice.
“I know, I know, I know!” replied the high-pitched, impatient voice.
“Now Grumples,” said the soothing voice, “please quiet down your big bear voice a bit, and Squeaky, please stop repeating yourself in that annoying mouse chatter. Perhaps we can figure out who this ballerina is and get to know a bit about where she came from.”
“Just wait a moment,” a clipped, firm voice spoke up. “I think you will all agree that given my history as a soldier on this tree and the many medals I have on my uniform, I should be the one asking questions of any new arrivals. I am the best qualified of all of us to determine if this new arrival is a “plant” or someone we can trust to follow our protocols and procedures.”
Soft groans and some snickers were heard throughout the tree.
“Now, Captain,” the soothing voice seemed even sweeter than it had before, “let’s not overwhelm anyone with procedures and protocols without welcoming them first. Young lady, would you be so kind as to say your name a bit louder – this is a large tree, and everyone would like to know who you are.”
“My name is Annabella,” said the young ballerina.
“Annabella…..Annabella….. Annabella…..,” her name was echoed around the tree.